Word: icbm
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Preserving parity will be difficult enough. The balance of strategic forces is already being eroded, principally by the U.S.S.R.'s ongoing ICBM buildup. For some years Western experts have been concerned that the land-based portion of the American strategic deterrent-1,052 Minuteman and Titan II missiles in underground silos-might soon be susceptible to a surprise first strike by the Soviet Union's own increasingly accurate, destructive and numerous land-based warheads. Such a pre-emptive blow, if successful, would seriously weaken the ability of the U.S. to retaliate with iCBMs against Soviet military targets...
...that the trends are not now in their favor because we are modernizing submarine-launched missiles, we have a new class of Trident submarines and a new ballistic missile on the way. We're another five or more years away from, but surely on the road to, an ICBM replacement that will be as capable as any of theirs-and survivable. Theirs...
...leaders working for the Defense Secretary, this scenario is too optimistic. They are especially concerned about the next few years when increasingly accurate warheads on Soviet SS-18 and SS-19 missiles may give the Kremlin the capacity to launch a successful first strike against the U.S. land-based ICBM force. U.S. submarine-launched missiles, capable of devastating Soviet cities, will still serve as a powerful deterrent, but many Pentagon planners think that the critical "window of vulnerability" will not be closed until 1986, when cruise missiles and the MX missiles are deployed. During this period, they fear, the Soviet...
...ICBM commands respect
China joined the exclusive club of ICBM powers last week. Two unarmed Long March 3 missiles lifted off from the remote Xinjiang region and traveled some 6,000 miles to a target zone near the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. There, a flotilla of 18 Chinese tracking ships was joined by kibitzing vessels from the U.S., the U.S.S.R., France, New Zealand and Australia. The observers took note of the successful splashdowns with a healthy respect...